“If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.” ― Albert Einstein

Close your eyes for a minute and try to imagine a world without music. When I do that, life without music evokes in me visions of being forced to trudge through a dreary and endless desert under a scorching sun with no water and no food. Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th-century German philosopher said “Without music, life would be a mistake”. Many centuries before him, Plato is quoted as saying “Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” And Khalil Gibran, the Lebanese-American poet and a contemporary of Nietzsche, wrote “Music is the language of the spirit. It opens the secret of life bringing peace, abolishing strife.”

Writing about women in IIT, starting off with my memory of being there almost four decades ago, is a difficult task. And it is not because memories fade and things change, but because some memories refuse to fade and some things refuse to change. This is of import today because as I write this there has been an attack in a University on women students who were protesting against sexual harassment and the discrimination that they face on campus. They were fighting for more proactive measures by the University to address the harassment they faced from the men on campus, the fact that the streets were not adequately lit, and also that they were being locked into the hostel earlier than the boys and not being given similar food [1].

Here’s a fun chance to flex your literary muscle. Get cracking on the first installment of a dazzingly creative lit quiz. The beehivers had a great time going through the questions. It’s quite a bit of fun. So get your engines running!

Not very long ago, during my visit to S. Africa, our guide-cum-cabbie surprised us all by a weird but practical gem of advice for protecting big cats. Said he: ‘If you ever want anything to be conserved, link it up to your food/livelihood. So, the best way for mankind to stop worrying about the survival of big cats is by starting to eat them, regularly!’ No need to say, I was simply floored by his logic!